Empties

I'm a week later on my empties post than I had planned. I had the opportunity to go spend a week with my family, so I jumped on it. This will be the first empties post I have done since May so let's just get right in to it!

I mostly had hair stuff, so we'll check that out first. I finished up Avon Advance Techniques Restoring Shampoo and Conditioner, not anything special about it, didn't notice any changes in my hair, will not repurchase. Next is Suave's Humectant Moisture Shampoo, I liked this it smells nice and seems to give my hair a little moisture and it's inexpensive, would probably repurchase. I also finally finished off the Suave Moroccan Infusion Shampoo, love the way it smells! As with all Suave products I would probably repurchase just because it's inexpensive. Tresemme Flawless Curls Mousse, I liked this and it's affordable, would likely purchase again but right now I want to try out some gels and cream products for my curls. Suave Touchable Finish hair spray, used to be my all time favorite, but I fell in love with an old favorite in September while at the beach, so I probably will not be repurchasing this product. My new/old favorite hairspray Rave! I used to use this stuff all the time back in middle and high school, picked up a travel size while at the beach and fell back in love with it. Obviously will be repurchasing this. Finished off another bottle of Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Moroccan Sleek Oil Treatment, love this stuff on the days that I wear my hair in it's naturally curly state, gives it the extra hydration it craves, will repurchase. Lastly in the hair care empties I have some Dove Oxygen Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner, I received these samples from PinchMe back in the summer, best I can remember I really liked these products and they smell amazing, may purchase in the future.

I also had a few face items. Two packs of Epielle facial cleansing tissues, I get these at Big Lots for $1 a pack, they work well and are in my budget. I have already repurchased some back ups. ELF makeup mist and set is my favorite setting spray. I tend to use this more often when I wear a full coverage foundation, I would repurchase. Love the L'Oreal Hydrafresh toner, this is the second bottle I have finished! Have already repurchased. The last face product I finished off is Avon Elements Moisture boost, love this as a spring and summer moisturizer, but now that it is fall my face feels like it needs some extra moisture, so I would repurchase this but for spring and summer use.

Lastly nail and hand items: Onyx professional acetone remover, something that I will repurchase over and over LOL Also finished up a bottle of equate regular polish remover. Lastly I finished off my Sugar Lemon hand sanitizer from Bath & Body Works, I love lemon scents so I have to repurchase this!

What products have you been finishing off?
Do y'all enjoy these empty posts?

Year In Review: Favorite Products

Welcome to the first of four posts in my Year in Review series! Today I'll be sharing my favorite products from 2013! I have quite a few things so let's get started. Also if I have reviewed the product I'll link to that post in case you want to know more about it.

I'll start off with my favorite lip product, Maybelline Baby Lips in Quenched, since I don't have a photo of it because I'm out of it and I can't find a photo that I took of it, but we all know what it looks like. I went through several of these lip balms in 2013 I think they moisturize my lips well and I love that it has SPF in it.

I tired several new skin care items this year and came out with three that I really liked. L'Oreal Hydrafresh Toner, eclos Skin Prep Cleanser and Avon Moisture Boost Daily moisture lotion. I hear a lot of people say that you don't need a toner, but I feel like it really helps my skin and it makes it feel really fresh. This toner did not leave my skin feeling tight or dry. I have been using this same bottle of eclos cleanser for months, and it is probably my most favorite cleanser ever, hands down. It cleans my face well and leaves it feeling soft and smooth. The only issue I have with this product is the price. I have used several moisturizers this year as well, but I stuck with the Avon one the longest, it's a really light moisturizer, but it gives my skin all the moisture that it needs.

Next are face products that I used the most in 2013. I instantly fell in love with the Olay Fresh Effects BB cream, I have been using this since early summer. It gives me the moisture my skin craves and evens out my skin tone, it does not give much coverage though, that's where my NYC Sunny bronzer comes in. I love this bronzer and will probably never

Haul: Christmas Gifts and After Christmas Shopping

Today I thought I would share with you some of the beauty related gifts that I got for Christmas plus a few products that I picked up at the after Christmas clearance sales. I'm in no way trying to brag, just thought this would be a fun post :)

First up are a few things that my Husband got me. He is so great, he will listen to me go on an on about beauty products even though most of the time he will admit he has no clue what I'm talking about, but his gifts proves he really is listening. He got me two bottles of the Garnier Sleek and Shine Moroccan Argan Oil and this awesome set from Suave which contains the Moroccan infusion products. It comes with the shampoo, conditioner, a hair mask, a bottle of oil and 3 of the Goody Ouchless elastics! He also got me a $25 Gift Card to Bath & Body Works.

My Mother-in-Law got me some styling products from Sally's Beauty Supply. I've never tried any hair products from Sally's, I usually only shop there for nail stuff, so I'm excited to give these products a try. Two bottles of Volumizing Sculpting Foam and a bottle of finishing spray, these are supposed to be comparable to Paul Mitchell products.

My Best Friend got me a few things from Bath & Body Works,

Empties: November & December 2013

I did not get around to blogging about my empties from November, so I thought I would combine them with my December empties. I have quite a few as you can see from above, so lets jump right in.

Up first I finished two hand sanitizers from Bath & Body Works, Papaya Melon Scoop and Apple Wreath. The Papaya smelled pretty good, nice and fruity. Would have been a great one to use in the spring or summer. I love Apple Wreath, you can smell hints of apple and Christmas trees, and absolutely love the way Christmas trees smell. I was bummed when I ran out of it and I looked when I was in Bath & Body Works earlier this week and I could not find it or anything like it.

Up next I have three nail polishes, I used these to make Christmas ornaments! I used Glitter Wonderland from Color Club, Get Low and Lost in Vegas both from Pure Ice. These colors made great ornaments since they were shimmery. I used the Glitter Wonderland to make my best friend one since purple is her favorite color and I used the other 2 to make my Mother-in-Law 3 ornaments since her theme for her tree was burgundy and gold.

I also finally used up the Equate makeup remover wipes that I got back in September! I think these good removing wipes, they work just as good as the ones that I get from Big Lots and the Simple wipes. I finished up my Secret deodorant and a bottle of the ELF Mist and Set spray. I would buy all these products again, I already have a back of the deodorant and I think 3 back ups of the spray.

Lastly I have some hair products that I finished up. First up is the Salon Selectives shampoo that I picked up from Big Lots, honestly this was like the bottle of shampoo that would never end! I did not like this at all, the consistency of the shampoo was weird almost gelatin like. I felt like I had to use twice as much of it as I would any other shampoo just to get it to lather up good. On the plus side it smelled pretty good and was inexpensive. I would not buy this again. I also finished up two different oils, my Garnier Sleek and Shine Moroccan Argan Oil and my Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment. Between the two I definitely prefer the Garnier, I just feel like it worked with my hair better and it's about half the price of the Macadamia one. I would repurchase the Garnier Moroccan Argan Oil, but my wonderful husband bought me two bottles of it for Christmas!

Wow, I feel like that was a lot of stuff! Did you finish up any products the last few months?

January 2013 Favorites

I feel like I say this every month, but seriously, where has this month gone? This month for me has been crazy and stressful. Anywho, I have a few products that I have either loved or just simply reached for the most this month.

I'll start with hair products:

I have been loving my Not Your Mother's Way to Grow Shampoo. I will have a full review of this product up within the next week!

Review: Garnier Frucitis Moroccan Sleek Oil Treatment

I have been wanting to try some argon/moroccan oil on my hair for quite some time now, and I seen an affordable option at Walmart by Garnier. Garnier claims that it's Moroccan Sleek Oil Treatment will get your hair 10 times smoother and keep it sleek for three days even in 97% humidity. Says it is instantly absorbed, delivers concentrated conditioning, softens and shines. Restore smoothness, mends roughness and intensifies shine and won't leave oily residue.

You can use the sleek oil treatment in one of three ways: mix with conditioner in the shower and rinse out, apply to towel dried hair as a leave in treatment, or use it to tame fly-aways after styling.

I have been using this product for two weeks now and am completely in love with it. I have used it in all the ways that I listed above. I did not notice any big results/changes when I used it with my conditioner. Didn't work too well for me on dry hair to tame fly-aways either. But it has worked wonders for me when using it as a leave in treatment. I noticed a lot of changes in my hair. When I wear my hair naturally, which is curly, it looks so much shiner and healthier than it ever has. I flat ironed my hair and it was super soft and shiny. It rained while I had my hair straight, and if you have naturally curly hair  you know the rain/humidity is bad news, surprisingly my hair stayed straight and smooth! It has not made my hair greasy at all. Usually if I plan to flat iron my hair, I will wash it at night, let it air dry a little, then pull it up before I go to bed and straighten it the following morning. I have found with most products I apply to my hair when doing this, tend to leave it very greasy looking when I straighten it. This oil, surprisingly did not. I love the smell of this oil too! I can't describe the smell of it, but it is very pleasant

This will be a product that I will re-purchase. I think it meets all the brands claims and it's an affordable product. I picked it up for $4.97 at Walmart and you get 3.75 fluid ounces.

 Final Say:

Quality: 5/5

Value: 5/5

Packaging: 5/5

Overall: 15/15

Haul: After Christmas Shopping

For Christmas I got some gift cards and cash and I thought I would share with you the beauty related items that I picked up while doing some after Christmas shopping.

I have one of the E.L.F eye lash curlers and it is the best one I have ever used, well it's getting a little worn and not working like it used too, so I went to Target and was going to pick up a new one plus a few backups, they only had one! I'm disappointed with it too, it does not work right at all! Glad it was only $1.00, but now I'm stuck without a good curler.

I love NYC top coat, it leaves my nails super shiny so I picked up another bottle of it, as I am getting low on my current one.

I have been on the look out for a good base coat for my nails. I've been using Strong Adhesion base coat by China Glaze, but it is getting empty. I really like the China Glaze, but I wanted something a little less expensive. I also have a problem with China Glaze polishes getting really thick after I have used them for a while. Anyone else have that problem? I found one by Sally Hansen, it's a base coat and a top coat, I already have a favorite top coat, as you seen above, but I'll see how well it works. It was a couple dollars cheaper than the China Glaze.

I also picked up a set of scrunchies. I usually pull my hair back when I'm at home and I thought these would be easier on my hair, than the ties I'm currently using.

I have also been wanting to try some Moroccan oil on my hair, so I picked up some Garnier Fructis Moroccan Sleek oil treatment.

I've been eyeing this palette from Hard Candy for months now! Every time I would go shopping at my local Walmart I would pass up buying it LOL, but now I have it and am super excited about it!

I also bought a few non beauty products that I'm excited about! I got a small candle warmer to use with my Bath & Body Works candles that I picked up at their semi annual sale. I also picked up this super cute angel soap dispenser from the Christmas clearance section in Walmart. The last non-beauty item is the one I am the most excited about. I collect unique 'piggy' banks and I had seen these in December 2011 and really liked them but passed up the opportunity to buy one. I've seen them in Walmart for most of 2012 and finally decided, I'm gonna get myself one, an actually piggy bank!

Did you do any after Christmas shopping? What did you purchase?

Be sure to check out my Giveaway!

Latest Target Beauty Bag

I was so excited to see my Target Beauty Bag in my mailbox the other day. I am really happy with the samples that came in this bag.

First off it came with a sample of Garnier Fructis Color Shield shampoo and conditioner. I'm really anxious to see what this smells like, it's made with Acai Berry antioxidants and Grape seed oil. Another interesting thing about this product it has UVA & UVB Protectant in it.

Next I got Aveeno Active Naturals

Review: Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition

About a month ago I was sent a bottle of Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition shampoo and a bottle of the matching conditioner from BuzzAgent to test out and review. I used these products for a couple of weeks and I have to say I don't like them. The product claims to transform your hair with the most intense nourishment yet and that it nourishes hair to the core. Also states that hair shines from within.

Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition

Wanted to tell you guys about a new product that I am trying out. It's the Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Shampoo and Conditioner for dry or damaged hair. This shampoo and conditioner is formulated to work best on dry or damaged hair. I feel that my hair is very dry, sounds kind of crunchy when you squeeze it. I have naturally curly hair and I tend to flat iron it a lot so I’m sure that my hair has damage. So hopefully this shampoo and conditioner will improve the quality of my hair.

Garnier has spent 2 years formulating the Triple Nutrition shampoo and conditioner. It contains 3 weightless nutritive fruit oils, Olive, Avocado, and Shea. The conditioner is ultra rich and is supposed to rinse clean. This line also includes Nutrient spray and 3-Minute Undo Dryness Reversal Treatment. They have a suggested retail price of $3.99 for a 13 oz.bottle and $6.99 for a 25.4 oz. bottle.

This product claims to transform your hair with the most intense nourishment yet and that it nourishes hair to the core. Also states that hair shines from within. Claims that the conditioner will not weigh down you hair and reverses up to one year of damage in one week.

I have only used this product twice since receiving it for review from BuzzAgent, so this is by no means a review of this product, that will come later LOL. But with the 2 uses of this product I did notice that it does not seem to weigh down my hair like other conditioner usually do. My hair also feels somewhat smoother. This shampoo and conditioner also smells really good, which is something that I look for in my shampoos. I am anxious to see if this shampoo and conditioner will really reverse a year worth of damage in just one week. I’ll keep you posted!

Have you tried the Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition line of products? What did you think about them?

To learn more about Garnier Fructis visit their website:http://www.garnierusa.com

To learn more about BuzzAgent and how you can become one visit their website: http://www.bzzagent.com

** I received these products from BuzzAgent to try out and review **